Deputy Director
Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission

Marvin Woodward was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission in April of 2019. Prior to that, he served as the Deputy State Property Officer assisting the State Property Officer in managing the Georgia Building Authority, State Property Commission and Georgia State Finance and Investment Commission.

From 2002 to May of 2008, he was employed by the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority as Director of Engineering and Projects. Prior to being employed by GRTA, he was employed by the Federal Highway Administration for 11 years, serving in their Georgia and New Jersey Division Offices.

He also worked for highway construction contractors and the New Jersey Department of Transportation. He has over 37 years’ experience in highway and building construction, project development and planning.

Mr. Woodward is a graduate of Penn State University with a B.S in Civil Engineering. Marvin and his wife Amy reside in Johns Creek and have been married 37 years.

Intl. Assoc. AIA, CCM
Deputy Director
Capital Programs and Environmental Affairs
Massachusetts Port Authority

Architect and planner, and with almost 20 years of experience working and managing design and construction projects, Dr. Luciana Burdi is the Deputy Director for Capital Programs and Environmental Affairs for the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport).

In her role, Dr. Burdi is leading the shift of Capital Programs towards a more innovative, progressive, BIM and Design Technology-driven department. By adopting Lean and Lean Construction principles and concepts, she is also committed to create a culture of continuous improvement focusing on maximizing the value for our customers, improving quality outcomes, while reducing non-value-added activities.

She was instrumental in implementing an employee engagement program in the department which received Authority-wide recognition and still exists today. Prior to joining Massport, she held several positions at the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Dr. Burdi is a member of the CMAA National Board of Directors, the Chair of the CMAA (Construction Management Association of America) Emerging Technologies Committee.In October 2015, she received the CMAA National Award in New Technologies techniques in CM for advancing the use of valuable new technologies in construction management.

She has been teaching 'Negotiation and Conflict resolution in Construction' at WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) since 2011. And she has been co-teaching a 'Modern Construction Delivery Methods' class at WIT (Wentworth Institute of Technology) since 2015.

Her willingness to share what she knows with the students and embrace innovative and emerging ideas, makes her an ideal advisor; she has been working with local and international graduate students on various topics, from BIM tendering and integration, to Lean implementation and the future implication of Artificial Intelligence in the design and construction realm.

Moreover, she is an active member of the Lean Construction Institute New England Community of Practice, and AGC (Association of General Contractors) of America.

She received her Doctorate from Harvard Graduate School of Design. Previously, she was a SPURS Fellow (Special Program in Urban and Regional Studies) at MIT and she holds a Master's Degree from the Instituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia ( UAV) in Venice Italy.

Dr. Burdi is highly involved in the Italian-American community. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and three children.

Jim serves as Global Senior General Manager of Engineering and Project Management for Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), one of the world’s leading Chemical and Materials companies. Jim joined SABIC’s Executive leadership team September 2013 and successfully lead a major transformation to globalize Engineering and Project Management in all regions of the world. He is currently leading a diverse global Engineering and Project Management team enabling SABICs sustainable growth strategies outside of Saudi Arabia. Prior to assuming his current position, Mr. Ellis retired from the DuPont Company after 35 years of service where he held numerous positions in business development, technology, operations, manufacturing, engineering and project management globally. He served as Operations Director for Asia Pacific, VP and Chief operating officer for First Chemical, a DuPont subsidiary company and site manager at several DuPont facilities including Corpus Christi and Beaumont. Jim’s career has enabled him to live and work throughout the U.S, Asia, Europe and Latin America where he has built and sustained personal and professional relationships across the globe. As an executive leader, Mr. Ellis maintains a strong commitment to SABIC’s core values including safety, environmental and health stewardship, ethics, compliance, value for diversity and community relations. Jim has been active in a variety of professional and business organizations serving as president of the Corpus Christi Port Industries and current President of the Construction Users Roundtable (CURT). He served as advisor to the President of Texas A&M, Lamar and McNeese State University in the development and growth of Engineering. He served on the Board of Directors for the Texas Business Council for Sustainable Development, the Construction Industry Institute (a University of Texas affiliation). Jim remains active with the United Way. Mr. Ellis holds a bachelor’s of Mechanical Engineering from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Master of Electrical Engineering from NYU graduating with honors. He completed advanced studies in Business Management at the Texas A&M School of Business and is Six Sigma Certified. He is married with three sons living in Texas.